Let’s play “Let’s Imagine.” Let’s imagine you’re only days old. You’re hungry. You know where the
food is, but so do your eight brothers and sisters. Luckily, there are enough food outlets for… six of
you. I guess that’s not as lucky as I thought. And guess what! All eight of your brothers and sisters are
hungry, too! Do you want to eat now or in 30 minutes, when one of your siblings might have had their fill and let go of their assigned food outlet? Oh, but if you do wait 30 minutes, you run the risk that the sibling, now happily full, just wants to take a nap while still clinging to that lovely, warm food outlet.
Why are you still standing there? Get your butt over to that food! Now you know how your dog felt for the first few months of his life. With limited access to his mother’s nipples, he and his
siblings bit, scratched, and stepped on one another in a race to get to them first. Those who didn’t get there quickly enough ate after the rest were finished or, worse, not at all if their mother
was tired of lying still and wanted to get up and move around. After learning that behavior as a baby, he may still think that his food supply is always limited and on the go. This is why he
scarfs down whatever you put in his bowl as though he thinks you’re going to try and go after it
yourself, and it’s also why he may feel the need to take the turkey off the counter and run.